Montclair man pleads not guilty in Montclair shooting death of college student

Wearing a sky-blue button-down dress shirt and standing with his arms handcuffed behind his back, the Montclair man accused in the shooting death in Montclair of a Villanova University business student appeared this past Tuesday in Essex County Superior Court in Newark at his arraignment to plead not guilty.

During Ernest Williams Jr.'s first court appearance, Judge Peter J. Vazquez asked Williams, 21, if he had reviewed the charges against him, if he understood the charges, and if his lawyer, John McMahon, had reviewed his rights.

Willams quietly answered "Yes I do" to each of the judge's questions.

Vazquez told Williams that the matter will go before a Grand Jury, and his bail will be continued at $750,000. Willams is being held at the Essex County Correctional Facility.

The case will go before the Grand Jury in December, said Assistant Prosecutor Cheryl Cucinello.

Williams' arraignment comes nine days after Brian Schiavetti, 21, of Ridgefield, Conn., was shot and killed in the first-floor hallway of a three-story apartment building at 25 William St.

Schiavetti and Williams arrived at the building together, according to neighbors, who said they looked like friends; one was white, the other black. Minutes later, neighbors heard a "pop, pop pop" and thought it was firecrackers.

"Then I saw a guy jump over the fence and walk up the street, he had a white towel over his head, and he was wearing a gray tank top, and denim shorts, and he was just walking, toward Valley Road," said a woman who was sitting on a porch across the street from the shooting.

Meanwhile, inside the three-story apartment building, a resident looked through the peephole of her door and "you could see the body," she said. "A Caucasian guy about 6 feet tall, he had on boat shoes, cargo shorts and a tie-dyed T-shirt."

According to the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, Schiavetti was "targeted," and shot multiple times during the course of a robbery at 6:40 p.m. on July 22 and pronounced dead at the scene.

Five days later, Williams had been charged with one count of murder, one count of robbery, and two weapons offenses, acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray and Montclair Police Chief David Sabagh announced in a release.

"Right from the get-go, we had a pretty decent lead," said a law enforcement source.

A group of five men and two women from Montclair, including Williams' brother, were in the courtroom Tuesday to support him. While Williams' brother declined to comment, a friend said of Williams: "To his friends, he's a kind and generous person. If he has it, he'll give it to you."

Williams was raised by his mother on James Street, the friend said. When asked how he felt about Williams' arrest, the friend said: "I was surprised, it was unusual."

Williams is the third generation in his family to live in Montclair, a source familiar with the family told The Montclair Times. A call to Williams' father was not returned, and his mother did not answer the door at her James Street home.

DRUG RECORD

What was Schiavetti, a summer intern at Thomson Reuters' Time Square office and finance major expected to graduate college in 2013, doing in Montclair with Williams?

According to Wednesday's Star-Ledger, two unnamed law enforcement officials confirmed that Schiavetti was shot multiple times during the course of a drug-related robbery. The Prosecutor's Office yesterday would not confirm this to The Times, and law enforcement officials have not released any details on a connection between Williams and Schiavetti.

However, according to police blotters from the Montclair Times and websites that also ran the blotter, an Ernest Williams was arrested several times during the last two years for drug offenses. A source with knowledge of Williams' record confirmed to The Times it is the same Ernest Williams.

In October, 2010, Williams, then 19, was arrested for selling crack near Charles Bullock Elementary School off Elm Street.

Last September, Williams, then 20, was charged with distribution of prescription drugs near the Deron School, located off Grove Street.